My 5-day Alpine Blast in F430 (pics & vids)
Discussion
Hi all. Looong report for you, but hope it (or bits of it) are useful to future planners. I found the entire trip amazing again, which is why I have discussed it below. Main routes/roads have been Bolded for easy reference. Apologies that the bias is in favour of vids instead of pics.
Day 1: London to Dijon. 460miles
Left early on Weds morning and took the French motorway network direct to Dijon. Nothing to report really. We didn’t have anywhere booked to stay, so headed deep into the heart of old Dijon centre, and followed signs for the Tourist Info. Really quaint old town centre, so quite a nice accidental visit. Wanted to stay in a country manor/chateau, so the Tourist Info agent booked us in to Chateau Gilly. Very nice place, although €7 for a 25cl beer is having a laugh, and the shower in the room was undoubtedly the worst pressure I have ever experienced in a hotel. Headed into the village for dinner, and after a fair bit to drink, we digressed to childhood and went grasshopper catching. I got bitten by the grasshopper! A real solid bite; cut my skin and everything. I mean, who gets bitten by a grasshopper?! Jeesus.
After making good use of the champagne at breakfast (my mate did, not me!), we headed off for Chamonix. Just to prove that the class of the Chateau didnt go to our heads, I went ahead and wore my most garishly "Brit-Abroad" tshirt.
Day 2: Dijon to Argentiere. 215miles
Set off with no particular route in mind, but wanted it to be small roads only. Found some fabulous little rural roads; very picturesque region, and the route took us directly south through Champagnole, Saint-Claude and Echallon. Twas fun to do some country roads rather than the full-on mountain passes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUnBdDGUmw
Then swung south of Annecy, and East towards Chamonix over the Col de la Colombiere. Here's a vid, the screeching is my tailslide attempts. It was very impressive in the car, honest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4b_dl8bAYU
Here’s some token tunnel fun nearing Chamonix; just cant get enough of the V8 noise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCJBXtbGtWg
From then we took a short hop on the main route to Chamonix. I was keen to checkout Chamonix as a skiing resort for next year, but thoroughly dissappointed. I'm more used to quaint mountain villages like Val D'Isere, so the big town feel of Chamonix was a shock. We carried on our journey up the valley and shortly came to the village of Argentiere, which was what we were looking for. It has an amazing glacier creeping down the mountain.
Our room for the night this time on somewhat of a different league to Chateau Gilly; you know its not 5star, when they ask on checkin if you would like a room with a shower in it. That said, at least this shower was powerful enough to use.
Day 3: Argentiere to Klosters. 213miles
Before heading out for the next jaunt, we browsed the local shops. My mate emerged from a souvenir shop beaming, having had bought a t-shirt written in a foreign language. Him not having any particular grasp of french, I promptly translated that it stated "This body is made for loving". That t-shirt never did see the light of day again.
We headed out of Argentiere, straight onto Route de Montets which took us over some dramatic mountain roads into Switzerland. The views of the valley/plateau from the mountain on the way down into Martigny are awesome. No pics or vids for this i'm afraid. The route through the valley to Brig-Glis is quite uneventful, but great scenery either side. Apricot vendors dotted every mile along the road. After Brig, the fun really started, with the Furkapass to Andermatt, followed by the Oberalppass. The Furkapass vid is a bit long but here you are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzXM9g9gmpc
On hitting Chur, we headed south, looping round to Davos. But its a shthole, much the same as Chamonix, so we shot out and instead stayed the night in Klosters.
Day 4: Klosters to Stuttgart. 250miles
This day started on a high, as we were shortly to experience the fabled Davos to Stelvio route. Not sure why its always referred to as Davos to Stelvio, as assuming you dont veer off onto the Umbrail pass then you don’t actually go anywhere near Stelvio. Anyway, I was quite excited, and had high expectations. I suppose this was the downfall; if you build something up it rarely lives up to the expectation. And this road was no exception. Sure it’s a great road; but so is the Furkapass and many many others. Infact, Col D'Iseran in France and Hahntennjochstrase (see later) is better in my opinion. A problem for the Davos road is that its relatively busy given that it’s a main route eastwards. Anyway, a lot has been written about this road, and I liked it but I wouldn’t go out of my way to do it again.
After hitting Sluderno, we headed due north towards Landeck and happened across an absolute beauty. Just south of Landeck at a town called Fleiss, you hit a long tunnel which bores through to the E60. However there is a scenic route instead, should you turn right at Fleiss. This takes you on a tiny RAC Rally style forest road, through the villages of Gretlern, Fuchsmoos and Wenns. The road is awesome, if a little scary. Not a single other car on the road, but came round the corner into this Mammoth
.
Took about 5 mins before the road was wide enough to overtake. That road was fantastic and a highlight of the trip. Here's a taster vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnOORwWXabw
To top it off, it spits you out into Imst, which is the start of my favourite road in Europe; Hahntennjochstrase which takes you to Elmen via Pfafflar. I did this road last year, and glad I came back. Its simply stunning. Well known about by bikers it seems, but blissfully free of generic traffic despite being there on Saturday afternoon. Here’s a pic halfway up:
From Elmen, we headed to Gran, then on a small open valley lane into Germany. It was then autobahn all the way to Stuttgart. Overtook something odd. Any clues what it is?
Day 5: Stuttgart to Croydon. 595miles
Stuttgart back home, was nothing more than a motorway blast, with some fun on German autobahns. Whilst stopped at a petrol station just before Holland, I realised my rear number plate was missing. This raised an interesting proposition, as we had been trying to be incongnito given that I had forgotten to take my drivers license, my insurance certificate, or any form of vehicle documents. It was only an hour or so further until we were pulled over by the Dutch police. Luckily it was the Dutch, who have a sense of humour, and saw the funny side to the ridiculous predicament that I had plunged myself into. We were sent on our way, and immediately stopped off to fashion some sort of replacement plate.
[police pic]
Spent the short leg through France to Calais extremely nervous that the cardboard plate would fall off, especially given the anal nature of the French police towards British motorists.
Thanks for reading.
If you liked it, my similar trip report for last year’s jaunt is here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Day 1: London to Dijon. 460miles
Left early on Weds morning and took the French motorway network direct to Dijon. Nothing to report really. We didn’t have anywhere booked to stay, so headed deep into the heart of old Dijon centre, and followed signs for the Tourist Info. Really quaint old town centre, so quite a nice accidental visit. Wanted to stay in a country manor/chateau, so the Tourist Info agent booked us in to Chateau Gilly. Very nice place, although €7 for a 25cl beer is having a laugh, and the shower in the room was undoubtedly the worst pressure I have ever experienced in a hotel. Headed into the village for dinner, and after a fair bit to drink, we digressed to childhood and went grasshopper catching. I got bitten by the grasshopper! A real solid bite; cut my skin and everything. I mean, who gets bitten by a grasshopper?! Jeesus.
After making good use of the champagne at breakfast (my mate did, not me!), we headed off for Chamonix. Just to prove that the class of the Chateau didnt go to our heads, I went ahead and wore my most garishly "Brit-Abroad" tshirt.
Day 2: Dijon to Argentiere. 215miles
Set off with no particular route in mind, but wanted it to be small roads only. Found some fabulous little rural roads; very picturesque region, and the route took us directly south through Champagnole, Saint-Claude and Echallon. Twas fun to do some country roads rather than the full-on mountain passes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUnBdDGUmw
Then swung south of Annecy, and East towards Chamonix over the Col de la Colombiere. Here's a vid, the screeching is my tailslide attempts. It was very impressive in the car, honest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4b_dl8bAYU
Here’s some token tunnel fun nearing Chamonix; just cant get enough of the V8 noise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCJBXtbGtWg
From then we took a short hop on the main route to Chamonix. I was keen to checkout Chamonix as a skiing resort for next year, but thoroughly dissappointed. I'm more used to quaint mountain villages like Val D'Isere, so the big town feel of Chamonix was a shock. We carried on our journey up the valley and shortly came to the village of Argentiere, which was what we were looking for. It has an amazing glacier creeping down the mountain.
Our room for the night this time on somewhat of a different league to Chateau Gilly; you know its not 5star, when they ask on checkin if you would like a room with a shower in it. That said, at least this shower was powerful enough to use.
Day 3: Argentiere to Klosters. 213miles
Before heading out for the next jaunt, we browsed the local shops. My mate emerged from a souvenir shop beaming, having had bought a t-shirt written in a foreign language. Him not having any particular grasp of french, I promptly translated that it stated "This body is made for loving". That t-shirt never did see the light of day again.
We headed out of Argentiere, straight onto Route de Montets which took us over some dramatic mountain roads into Switzerland. The views of the valley/plateau from the mountain on the way down into Martigny are awesome. No pics or vids for this i'm afraid. The route through the valley to Brig-Glis is quite uneventful, but great scenery either side. Apricot vendors dotted every mile along the road. After Brig, the fun really started, with the Furkapass to Andermatt, followed by the Oberalppass. The Furkapass vid is a bit long but here you are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzXM9g9gmpc
On hitting Chur, we headed south, looping round to Davos. But its a shthole, much the same as Chamonix, so we shot out and instead stayed the night in Klosters.
Day 4: Klosters to Stuttgart. 250miles
This day started on a high, as we were shortly to experience the fabled Davos to Stelvio route. Not sure why its always referred to as Davos to Stelvio, as assuming you dont veer off onto the Umbrail pass then you don’t actually go anywhere near Stelvio. Anyway, I was quite excited, and had high expectations. I suppose this was the downfall; if you build something up it rarely lives up to the expectation. And this road was no exception. Sure it’s a great road; but so is the Furkapass and many many others. Infact, Col D'Iseran in France and Hahntennjochstrase (see later) is better in my opinion. A problem for the Davos road is that its relatively busy given that it’s a main route eastwards. Anyway, a lot has been written about this road, and I liked it but I wouldn’t go out of my way to do it again.
After hitting Sluderno, we headed due north towards Landeck and happened across an absolute beauty. Just south of Landeck at a town called Fleiss, you hit a long tunnel which bores through to the E60. However there is a scenic route instead, should you turn right at Fleiss. This takes you on a tiny RAC Rally style forest road, through the villages of Gretlern, Fuchsmoos and Wenns. The road is awesome, if a little scary. Not a single other car on the road, but came round the corner into this Mammoth
. Took about 5 mins before the road was wide enough to overtake. That road was fantastic and a highlight of the trip. Here's a taster vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnOORwWXabw
To top it off, it spits you out into Imst, which is the start of my favourite road in Europe; Hahntennjochstrase which takes you to Elmen via Pfafflar. I did this road last year, and glad I came back. Its simply stunning. Well known about by bikers it seems, but blissfully free of generic traffic despite being there on Saturday afternoon. Here’s a pic halfway up:
From Elmen, we headed to Gran, then on a small open valley lane into Germany. It was then autobahn all the way to Stuttgart. Overtook something odd. Any clues what it is?
Day 5: Stuttgart to Croydon. 595miles
Stuttgart back home, was nothing more than a motorway blast, with some fun on German autobahns. Whilst stopped at a petrol station just before Holland, I realised my rear number plate was missing. This raised an interesting proposition, as we had been trying to be incongnito given that I had forgotten to take my drivers license, my insurance certificate, or any form of vehicle documents. It was only an hour or so further until we were pulled over by the Dutch police. Luckily it was the Dutch, who have a sense of humour, and saw the funny side to the ridiculous predicament that I had plunged myself into. We were sent on our way, and immediately stopped off to fashion some sort of replacement plate.
[police pic]
Spent the short leg through France to Calais extremely nervous that the cardboard plate would fall off, especially given the anal nature of the French police towards British motorists.
Thanks for reading.
If you liked it, my similar trip report for last year’s jaunt is here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
kryten22uk said:
After hitting Sluderno, we headed due north towards Landeck and happened across an absolute beauty. Just south of Landeck at a town called Fleiss, you hit a long tunnel which bores through to the E60. However there is a scenic route instead, should you turn right at Fleiss. This takes you on a tiny RAC Rally style forest road, through the villages of Gretlern, Fuchsmoos and Wenns.
You did Pillertal - good isn't it ?kryten22uk said:
To top it off, it spits you out into Imst, which is the start of my favourite road in Europe; Hahntennjochstrase which takes you to Elmen via Pfafflar. I did this road last year, and glad I came back. Its simply stunning. Well known about by bikers it seems, but blissfully free of generic traffic despite being there on Saturday afternoon.
Another good one - surprisingly free of traffic.Plenty of fast sweepers.
kryten22uk said:
From Elmen, we headed to Gran, then on a small open valley lane into Germany. It was then autobahn all the way to Stuttgart.
I am not sure which autobahn you are using here. The A7stops short about 10 miles north of the border.
My map says the A7 is due to go all the way to the border
by Dec 2008, but they haven't finished yet.
If you are near Imst again, you could try any of
Kaunertal, Pitztal or Oetztal. The last one goes
over the top into Italy, via Timmelsjoch.
I am living near Klosters, so it is very
Thanks for the post - skimmed but not read it yet - if you spent that amount of time typing and inserting pics, then the least I can do is make a nice cup of my favourite coffee, have a read and plot your route on our maps 
Me and Bruv are off on the 13th Aug in my GT3 for our Alpine Hoon...managed to twist his arm to extend from 5 to 6 days, simply to shorten the daily mileages.
At the *moment* we're planning:
Day 1 Dunkerque -> Montreux
Day 2 Montreux -> Andermatt (doing the Grimsel, Furka, Susten)
Day 3 Andermatt -> Bormio(ish) (Klausen, Stelvio + other passes)
Day 4 Bormio -> Innsbruck (only half day driving, bit of sightseeing/r&r)
Day 5 Innsbruck -> Stuttgart -> Nurburg (doing the new Porsche museum en-route)
Day 6 Nurburg -> Dunkerque (public day at Ring, may pop my Ring cherry, may spectate, undecided)
If there's anything spectacularly wrong with the above, somebody please shout...it could make all the difference to our trip! (sorry for hijack)
Cheers
S
Me and Bruv are off on the 13th Aug in my GT3 for our Alpine Hoon...managed to twist his arm to extend from 5 to 6 days, simply to shorten the daily mileages.
At the *moment* we're planning:
Day 1 Dunkerque -> Montreux
Day 2 Montreux -> Andermatt (doing the Grimsel, Furka, Susten)
Day 3 Andermatt -> Bormio(ish) (Klausen, Stelvio + other passes)
Day 4 Bormio -> Innsbruck (only half day driving, bit of sightseeing/r&r)
Day 5 Innsbruck -> Stuttgart -> Nurburg (doing the new Porsche museum en-route)
Day 6 Nurburg -> Dunkerque (public day at Ring, may pop my Ring cherry, may spectate, undecided)
If there's anything spectacularly wrong with the above, somebody please shout...it could make all the difference to our trip! (sorry for hijack)
Cheers
S
Edited by spenny_b on Thursday 30th July 01:21
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